Spitzer's Moral Obligation to Society

After our discussion last night in class regarding ethics and the scandal surrounding Eliot Spitzer, I had an additional thought on the subject of the morality involved in this case. Clearly Eliot Spitzer made poor judgments and without a doubt should be accountable for his actions; however, I think the biggest underlying concern of this case is that Eliot Spitzer was first and foremost an Attorney General – a person paid throughout his career to prosecute individuals for defying the law. As a professional who bases his career on the foundation of the law and preached on to others the basis of what is right and wrong, should be more susceptible and liable for mistakes made under such a principal.

The same idea holds true for any profession; take the police force for example. Police men and women need to follow the law just as normal citizens would; however, there is an assumed and unspoken higher level of regard for those men and women to follow the rules one is professionally paid to do. Police officers are held to more stringent standards than the average citizen. Obviously if an individual commits a crime, that person needs to be penalized in such a manner fitted to that crime; but in our society the people that have the power to control individual’s outcomes, need to follow those guidelines as well.

Additionally we need to assume that the majority of professionals choose their career with some passion for that field. I would like to think that people choose specific directions in life because they have the desire to better society in some way. It makes me think not only the obvious “what was he thinking” but also that he could act so far removed from his own principals.